Critics: U.S. must up aid to Iraq refugees

BALTIMORE, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Critics say the United States is not doing enough to help more than 2 million Iraqis who have fled the violence in their country and have become refugees.

A coalition including Refugees International, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service of Baltimore have called on U.S. officials to allow the entry of as many as 105,000 Iraqi refugees next year, a sevenfold increase over current admissions, The Sun newspaper in Baltimore reported Monday.

The coalition is also calling for the United States to nearly triple the money spent on the displaced Iraqis.

"It's true that the U.S. takes more refugees than most countries," Kristele Younes of Refugees International told The Sun. "It does provide more money. But in this particular situation, we need to look at the military budget versus the humanitarian budget. The resettlement numbers versus the ones who actually need to be resettled."

James Foley, the State Department's senior coordinator for Iraq refugee issues, agrees the United States has a "unique responsibility" for the refugees, but says it would be "impossible, really, to satisfy each and every critic" and points to "increasingly robust processing capacity," the newspaper said.